Ep. 15: Reckless Rider Mai
is the fifteenth episode of Dengeki Sentai Changeman. Synopsis Mai races against a biker who knows the secret for stopping a poison-making Space Beast. Plot Two men race by motorcycle. The race becomes wild and the one rider ruthlessly cuts the other off, causing him to wreck. The winner, Ken, says that the prize is the keys for his motorcycle, which he obtains, stepping on, spitting on and kicking the other biker while he's down. He's on his way when he spots a red net floating after detaching itself from a gas tank. The net pulls itself up and stones gather into it, building itself into Space Beast Soldier Rogan. Shiima arrives, ordering Rogan to change the gas he obtained into poison. Suddenly, all over town, poisonous gas emits from appliances and outlets, rising from the burners of a housewife's stove, choking her, as she attempts to get her baby and escape. The racer watches in terror, muttering a sound of disbelief to himself, giving himself away to Shiima. She approaches and he hops on his motorcycle, racing away. Mai rides on her motorcycle when she comes to a halt to avoid hitting a cat. Suddenly, coming speeding down the road to her right, Ken nearly crashes into Mai. He stops and Mai berates him for being careless when she was stopped to avoid hitting a cat. Wanting to keep on the move away from his opponents, the man is arguing with her, criticizing for jeopardizing lives for a cat. In a hurried worry, he mumbles to her saying that there are bigger things to worry about, like monsters, before dashing off. The curious statement rouses an interest in Mai, obviously. Sometime later, Shiima is at another power company with Rogan, ordering him to convert the gas into poisonous gas. He does so, causing panic all over the city. The Changeman arrive and halt this attack for the moment. Upon fighting with Rogan and firing at him with Change Sword, Rogan breaks down into dozens of rocks and the Changeman believe it's victory. Back at the Dengeki Base, Hiryuu proudly reports to Ibuki that they've defeated the Space Beast Soldier, although Ibuki thinks otherwise. Just then, reports of poisonous gas being spread on a roadway come in, to the Changeman's surprise, meaning that Rogan is indeed alive. Ibuki worries, stating that there must be some trick to defeating him and it will be impossible to do so without knowing it. Mai thinks of the rude man she encountered, letting Ibuki know that he was aware of something regarding the situation, and decides to track him down. Rogan returns to the Gozmard. Buuba commends him the job he's doing, while Gator sarcastically remarks the red net he wears is out of style (Rogan is furious upon Gator's touching the net). Shiima reports that a man witnessed their activities and their next order is to eliminate him. Several riders race in a rocky canyon, a rider dressed in a bright red being the victor. The victor collects the keys of the losers' bikes. Suddenly, Ken pulls up. Ken remarks that for the next race, they should be partners. He's surprised to hear the victor replies in a female voice, later taking their helmet off to reveal that it's Mai, the rider that nearly caused a wreck for the sake of a cat. Sayaka, who had this plan to lure him with a race, approaches Ken, Mai getting off of her bike to, as well. She asks him about that "monster" he saw earlier, wanting him to confess exactly what he saw. He plays dumb out of fear and Sayaka impatiently retorts that they need his help, for many people are being killed by its poisonous gas. The man is again being rude and stubborn from cowardice, infuriating Mai, who blasts out that she'd challenge him, but he doesn't have any true courage, otherwise he'd simply confess what he saw. He grabs her by the collar angrily, and she grabs his, as well. Mai freezes, hearing a cat's meow. She looks down to see that Ken holds the cat that was nearly run over within his jacket. Ken zips up his jacket, concealing the cat, agreeing to her challenge to race. Sayaka pleads with Mai not bother, that this type of guy can't be trusted, anyway. Mai angrily walks over to her motorcycle as Sayaka orders her to stop. Mai, although at this point angered by his stubbornness and need to keep a macho cover, says that she doesn't think this guy is truly bad deep down and will bet on it. Mai sets the rules to Ken that, if she wins, he tells her the entire truth. The other Changemen arrive as Mai and Ken begin their race. They speed down a road sometime later, Ken remarking in surprise that he hasn't been able to ditch Mai yet. She trash talks, saying that that "it's only the beginning" of what he's seen. Ken thinks he's being slick in taking a shortcut, but Mai takes the lead by ramping over and past him. Shiima and Rogan look down upon their race. Shiima gleefully remarks how easy it is they're making it to take the man out. She raises the Shiba Staff, flashing a pulse towards Ken's bike which causes it to malfunction and throw him from it, the bike exploding on impact. Mai stops, looking up and noticing Shiima. Hidora enter and preoccupy Mai as more Hidora descend upon Ken. Mai fights through and gets to Ken, riding through the Hidora. She tells Ken to hurry and get on her motorcycle. He's reluctant in trying to keep up his macho act and she forcefully tells him to hurry up. Getting behind Mai, the two ride away, only to be stopped by an attack by Rogan, sending the two flying off of the motorcycle. As Shiima approaches, Mai warns Ken to hurry and get away, while she'll be the decoy. Ken is unable to determine why Mai keeps trying to save him when they were rivals. Mai urgently tells him there's no time to talk and to run away. He does so and Mai goes out before Shiima, fighting off numerous Hidora. She's no match for Rogan, who unloads boulders onto her with ease. Suddenly, Ken joins Mai's side. Irritated, Mai calls him stupid for not using the time to escape. He quickly informs her that it's the monster's net, he saw that the net pulls rocks together, combining into Rogan. Mai puts together what needs to be done to take Rogan down, thanking Ken, as they're fired at by Rogan, Ken falling unconscious. Suddenly, the four other Changeman arrive, fighting off Shiima for Mai to check on Ken, who she lays to the side for safety. She stands, telling Shiima that she won't "allow you to turn Earth into Hell with Rogan's poison," transforming into Change Phoenix. They defeat Rogan by destroying the net, burning it with Phoenix Fire, not allowing him to rebuild. After the battle, Mai meets up with Ken who rides a motorcycle. She asks how it feels riding the new bike she's given him. Ken happily replies that he's enjoying it, referring to Mai as "aniki," very much to her chagrin. He jokingly makes more aniki and chinpira related comments, getting on her nerves, as he playfully rides away. The four others look on, laughing. Shou's laughter comes to a stop when Mai steals his motorcycle to chase after Ken in fun. Cast * : * : * : * : * : * : *Officer Suzuki: *Officer Watanabe: *Officer Nomoto: *Officer Kikuchi: * : **Star King Bazeu (Voice): * : * : * : **Shiima (Voice): * : Guest Cast * : *Ken: Notes to be added DVD releases Dengeki Sentai Changeman Volume 2 features episodes 12-22. http://www.toei-video.co.jp/DVD/sp21/changeman.html References Category:Dengeki Sentai Changeman Category:Sentai episodes